Newsletters

02.22.17

DOJ Successfully Blocks Insurance Mergers: What Are the Takeaways?

In July 2016, following a lengthy review, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ), together with several states, sued to block two proposed health insurer mergers: Aetna/Humana and Anthem/Cigna.


01.23.17

Top Five Healthcare Antitrust Trends to Watch in 2017

Antitrust enforcement and litigation had a big year in 2016. In this article, we look back at the most significant cases for the healthcare industry over the last year to identify key trends to watch for in 2017.


12.19.16

Telehealth for Healthy Competition

As providers look for more convenient and cost-effective means to reach patients, there has been much discussion about the potential benefits of telehealth services. Such services also are healthy from an antitrust perspective. Against a backdrop of regular advocacy in favor of lowering barriers to ...


11.21.16

Post-Election Analysis: Healthcare Antitrust in a Trump Administration

In a Republican sweep of all the elected branches of the federal government, Donald Trump won the presidential election and Republicans retained control of the House and Senate.


10.31.16

DOJ to Investigate No-Poach and Wage-Fixing Agreements Criminally

Human resources professionals beware. Conversations with others in your industry regarding employee pay, benefits and no-hire agreements could land you in jail.


10.20.16

Third Circuit Reverses Hospital Merger Loss

On September 27, 2016, the Third Circuit handed the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) a significant victory in its campaign against hospital consolidation, reversing a District Court decision that denied a preliminary injunction against the merger of Penn State Hershey Medical Center (Hershey) and ...


09.22.16

Can Antitrust Prevent Excessive Drug Price Increases?

The antitrust agencies are often asked to intervene in markets where pricing appears to be excessive to help protect consumers and stabilize markets. In the drug arena, healthcare providers, consumers and politicians have been extremely vocal in criticizing some companies, such as Mylan, Valeant ...


08.24.16

Lovenox Case Muddies Waters on Loyalty Discount Programs

Pharmaceutical manufacturers utilize a variety of sales and marketing techniques to maximize sales of their products. 


07.27.16

Steering and Its Broad Implications for Payer-Hospital Negotiations

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the North Carolina Attorney General sued Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS) in North Carolina District Court alleging that CHS exercised its dominant market power to prevent insurers from steering patients to its ...


06.23.16

Hospital Mergers: Is the FTC’s Winning Streak Over?

Following a winning streak dating back to its 2007 win in Evanston,1 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has suffered two losses over the last month in two of its three pending hospital merger challenges.